26 Lankan sailors killed in rebel attack

Updated at 10.35 pm

COLOMBO: Tamil rebels said on Thursday they have killed 26 Sri Lankan sailors and caught four others in a clash.

Lanka's military said it sank 22 Tamil Tiger boats in a sea battle off the island's northern tip and accused the rebels of trying to sink a passenger ship with 300 civilians aboard in a suicide attack.   

The military said air force jets and helicopter gunships were brought in after the rebels sank a navy fast attack boat, but said it had no immediate details of casualties.   

"They tried to sink a passenger vessel. The navy sank 8 boats, and then the airforce sank another 14," military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

"They are trying to rescue the Navy sailors. There are survivors."   

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but said earlier they sank one navy boat and that a second was on fire and sinking, accusing the military of provoking the clash by attacking their vessels during exercises at sea.